Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Happier Than a Bird with a French Fry


Yesterday on Facebook, I posted this picture of a note Molly wrote to her teacher. I found it in her homework folder as I was going through her school bag making sure she had everything.





I LOVED it! Molly has a naturally happy disposition. That is just who she is. But when I picked her up from school and told her to get ready for horseback riding, she was not happy. She had a mini-meltdown and did not want to go. I know it was because she was overtired. She even told me she was tired. Even though yesterday was Tuesday, it was really "Monday" for us because of the three-day holiday weekend. We have had late nights. I feel bad for Molly because I know she doesn't get enough sleep. That is one of the disadvantages of being the youngest of four. Six years ago, when Shannon was in second grade, I had our bedtime routine down with no problem. Dinner was always between 6-6:30, everyone was in the bath after dinner, one right after the other, bedtime stories were read and lights were out by 8:00. Usually everyone was sleeping by 8:30. Today, Molly is lucky to get her dinner at 8:30 and in bed by 9:00. It's funny, but in a way Molly is not growing up in the same family that Shannon grew up in. Shannon is the oldest with three younger siblings, there were routines and everyone was in bed by a certain time. The family that Molly is growing up in is different, same siblings, same parents, but her life is not the same being the youngest. She knows songs that she wouldn't have known if it wasn't for her older brothers and sister, she watches TV shows and movies that she wouldn't if it wasn't for her older brothers and sister, and she has things like a hand-me-down ipod touch from her sister that she never would have had if she didn't have older siblings.

So yesterday, when I saw that she was tired from her school day and the meltdown was coming, I asked her where my bird with the french fry was? She replied very forcefully, "Well, this bird doesn't have a french fry and so she can't go to horseback riding!!" Again, I know she was overtired. I was tired too. I knew that Chris wasn't coming home for dinner and I also knew we had a free schedule after horseback riding was over. I didn't have to drive all over town to drop kids off at basketball and soccer practice and so I told her if she went to horseback riding she could have french fries for dinner. It was a deal. We went to horseback riding, which she absolutely loves and she did great. 






My little bluebird of happiness was back to her old self with her french fries in hand and then she made me this picture in "The Mom Book."


Last night, I was a mom as happy as a bird with a french fry. 


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